Jackson and Bruton lead Basketball teams

Commonwealth Games - Melbourne 2006

One of the best female basketballers on the planet and an eager men’s team led by CJ Bruton will take on the Commonwealth’s best when basketball makes its debut at the Games in Melbourne.

The team also includes Melbourne Tiger Neil Mottram, who along with brother Craig (athletics) will become just the second set of siblings to compete in different sports in the same Games.

After more than two years of speculation, Lauren Jackson was today confirmed in the Opal’s line-up for the Games.

The Opals will field a young team and will rely heavily on Jackson, co-captain Jenny Whittle, along with Tully Bevilaqua, Jae Cross and Belinda Snell. Despite Suzy Batkovic, Penny Taylor and Kristi Harrower being unavailable due to European playing commitments, coach Jan Stirling had a wide talent pool to choose from, with significant depth playing in the women’s National Basketball League in Australia.

The Opals have compiled an enviable record over the past decade, with Olympic bronze in Atlanta, followed by silver in Sydney and Athens.

The Boomers, under coach Brian Goorjian, will also rely on the international court-time of CJ Bruton, Jason Smith, Tony Ronaldson, Sam Mackinnon and Paul Rogers.

Melbourne Tiger Neil Mottram is one of the new generation who joins the Boomers outfit for the Games. Neil will join brother Craig, the 2005 world championships 5000m bronze medallist whose selection in the team was confirmed last week. The Mottram bothers become just the second set of siblings to represent Australia in different sports at the same Commonwealth Games, following in the footsteps of Ron and Raelene Boyle. Ron competing in cycling and Raelene in athletics at the 1978 Games in Edmonton.

Bruton and Smith were key members of the championships winning Sydney Kings outfit in 2005, and Smith, a dual Olympian, will be particularly pleased to be playing in Melbourne as he began his career playing with Vermont, in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne.

One player to watch is newcomer Brad Newley. The Townsville Crocodiles-based South Australian will celebrate his 21st birthday this Saturday and the 2005 NBL rookie of the year has already attracted huge wraps, including speculation he’ll be snapped up by a NBA club in the next few years.

Australia will enter the tournament as the highest ranked team in both the men’s and women’s competition. The Boomers finished a disappointing ninth at the Athens Olympics, after finishing fourth in Sydney, however they are rebuilding ahead of the 2006 world championships in Japan in August and the Games in Melbourne will be an important milestone.

Australian Commonwealth Games association CEO, Perry Crosswhite, himself a three-time Olympic basketball representative, said he was delighted to welcome the 24 basketballers onto the team for the first time.

“It is always exciting to welcome new members to the Australian Commonwealth Games team, but it is a particularly thrill to welcome basketballers to the Australian team for the first time.

“We don’t normally like to single out particular members of the team, but special mention must be made of Lauren Jackson. Lauren has tremendous demands placed on her time, however she has once again shown her commitment to playing for her country and we congratulate her on making herself available for selection.

“Congratulations also to Neil and Craig Mottram. We already have eight other sets of siblings on the team; however they are all competing in the same sports. Neil and Craig will become just the second set of siblings to compete in different sports in the same Games,” Mr Crosswhite said.

Australian Commonwealth Games Basketball teams

Two medals will be on offer after 10 days of competition which will begin at the regional centres of Bendigo, Ballarat, Geelong and Traralgon, before concluding in classification matches and finals at the Multi-Purpose Venue (Melbourne Park).

Eight nations will compete in both the men’s and women’s events, with the competition consisting of two pools of four teams playing each other in a round-robin style tournament, before the two leading teams in each pool advance to the finals.

In the men’s competition, Pool A consists of Australia, Nigeria, Scotland and India; Pool B consists of New Zealand, Barbados, South Africa, England.

In the women’s competition, Pool C consists of Australia, England, India and Mozambique; Pool D consists of New Zealand, Malaysia, Malta and Nigeria,

The full competition schedule is available at www.melbourne2006.com.au